Murray steals Richards Bay title

Her previous world cup best was an eighth place finish in 2005 but none of that mattered as the elite women took to the start line in South Africa today. Carolyn Murray of Canada pulled off quite an upset, winning todays Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup, the first world cup title of her career. Aussie Felicity Abram took the silver while last years silver medalist Magali Di Marco of Switzerland made the podium for the second straight year, holding on for bronze.

This is something Ive been dreaming of forever, said Murray at the finish line, who needs a top-8 finish at the world championships in Vancouver on June 8 for a guaranteed spot in Beijing.

American Olympic hopeful Sarah Groff emerged from the water first and was up 22 seconds over the rest of the field. Riding alone on the 40-kilometer bike course, Groff had to work hard to build a 35-second lead. A large chase pack was in hot pursuit and cut the lead to just 13 seconds by the midway point of the bike segment. In the fourth lap, Groff was swallowed up by the chase group that included all the major pre-race favorites including German Ricarda Lisk, South African Mari Rabie, Nicky Samuels of New Zealand, Abram and Di Marco, the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist.

After 28 kilometers, the second chase pack caught up with the lead group after strong cycling by Murray and Austrian Tania Haiboeck. With the exception of a mini breakaway by Samuels with seven kilometers to go, 36 women rode together for the last stages of the bike segment and into T2.

I had to work my butt off on the bike and it paid off. It finally paid off, said Murray. I really had a terrible swim and I didnt realize how far back I was until I got to the bikes and there werent any left. I knew if I didnt do anything to get up to the race was over. I had to go for it. On the run I thought, this is game on. Today is my day and Im going for it.

Lisk was first out of transition followed quickly by Elizabeth May of Luxembourg and Samuels. But surprisingly Murray and Haiboeck led after the first lap of the 10-kilometer run. Just shy of the halfway mark Murray started to break away and took a slim 4-second lead on compatriot Kathy Tremblay and Di Marco. With Abram charging hard in the late stages, Murray managed to hold on to claim the biggest win of her career and send a strong message that she is one of the contenders for selection to Canadas Olympic team. She now needs a top-8 finish at the world championships in Vancouver to earn an automatic berth. The last Canadian woman to win a world cup was right here in Richards Bay last year when Kirsten Sweetland broke through for her first world cup title.

With a strong finishing kick, Abram overtook Di Marco for the silver and her second world cup podium of 2008. A few weeks ago Abram was vocal in not being selected to Australias Olympic nomination team. Tremblay finished in fourth place, her second world cup top-5 result of 2008. Lisk rounded out the top five.